. The Southern States. e Dan river basin, near Ger-manton. Pyrite is one of the common mineralsof North Carolina. In the gold minesthe associated pyrite is generally aurifer-ous. Large veins of compact pyrite arenow being worked in Gaston county,and promising deposits are reported asoccurring in several other counties,especially in Jackson countv, near Balsamstation, on the Murphy Railroad. The disco\ery several years ago olemerald and hiddenite in Alexandercounty, where mining operations on aconsiderable scale have been carried on,may be fairly said to have inaugurated anew industrv in Wester
. The Southern States. e Dan river basin, near Ger-manton. Pyrite is one of the common mineralsof North Carolina. In the gold minesthe associated pyrite is generally aurifer-ous. Large veins of compact pyrite arenow being worked in Gaston county,and promising deposits are reported asoccurring in several other counties,especially in Jackson countv, near Balsamstation, on the Murphy Railroad. The disco\ery several years ago olemerald and hiddenite in Alexandercounty, where mining operations on aconsiderable scale have been carried on,may be fairly said to have inaugurated anew industrv in Western North Carolina ECONOAfIC GEOLOGY OE NORTH CAROLINA. 157 —the search for gems. This industryhas now grown to considerable propor-tions. The larger amount of mining-has been done in the explorations forhiddenite, emerald, beryl and rarely and considerable value have beenobtained. This gem has not been foundelsewhere than at this locality. A berylof emerald green color has been foundin the North Carolina mica veins in. WATER POWER ON TAR RIVER AT ROCKY MOUNT. tinted garnets, but a limited amountalso has been done in searching for rubycorundum, sapphire, oriental emeraldand topaz, kyanite, rock crystal, andother rare minerals. Only a few notescan be given here relative to the moreimportant gems. Fourteen or fifteen small diamondshave been found in the State, eight ofwhich were discovered in the goldmining gravel beds in Burke, Ruther-ford and McDowell counties centeringabout the Brindletown region. Of theothers, one has been found in Lincoln,two in Mecklenburg, two in Franklinand one in Richmon^d county. Hiddenite is an emerald-green gem, avariety of spodumene, found at StonyPoint, Alexander county, where itoccurs in the soil and in cavities ingneissoid rock, along with emerald(beryl), monazite, rutile, allanite, quartzcrystal, etc, A considerable amount ofmining for these gems has been carriedon during the past few years, and bothhiddenites and emeralds of rare beauty Mitchell
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